Opportunity to Earn MRW/CCM Is Back!

Following the demise of the Career Management Alliance, the future of the Master Resume Writer (MRW) and Credentialed Career Manager (CCM) credentials was briefly in question. However, Career Management Alliance arranged with Wendy S. Enelow (original founder of the Career Masters Institute, which became the Career Management Alliance) to take over the certifications.

You can now find a listing of all current MRWs and CCMs on the Career Thought Leaders website, including instructions on how to apply to become a Master Resume Writer and the application process for the Credentialed Career Manager designation.

The MRW and CCM are back with Wendy. All is right with the world.

Pros and Cons of Using a Template-Based Website

When you set up a website for your business, or decide that it's time to do a complete overhaul of your existing site, you'll be faced with a number of design decisions. Much of the focus will be on how your new site should look and how people will interact with it, and rightly so. As the internet "face" of your resume writing business, these are very significant issues.

But you also need to decide how your website is going to function behind the scenes, and choose the structure and framework on which your website will be built. If you are using a popular framework such as WordPress, Joomla, or perhaps using one of the pre-built websites that your hosting provider offers, you'll be using what is known as a "template." Using website templates provides a number of pros and cons that you should carefully consider before going forward.

Most resume writers equate the word "template" with "bad" -- i.e., a Microsoft Word resume template. Templates are really much more than that, however. They're simply structure. If you customize the template, it can simply be a good foundation upon which to build. In my book, "Write Great Resumes Faster," I talk about using a template that simply has placeholders for the information you want to include in the resume (often, advanced formatting tricks -- like section dividers.) In the same way, a website template can offer advanced customization features as well.

By the way, "Write Great Resumes Faster" is the October special report offered in the BeAResumeWriter.com website. Join the Bronze level for just $10 a month, and you'll get access to the $14 "Write Great Resumes Faster" book as just one of your membership benefits for the month.

"Pros" of Using a Web Template
One advantage of using a web template is that you can get your website up and running much more quickly than if you were starting from scratch. A web template is usually ready to go right out of the box, or very close to it -- you still need to customize the template for your business name, contact information, and the like, but you're starting from framework.

Because they save you time, templates are also likely to save you money. There's a good chance you can find a free or open source template to fit your needs, or that is already included in the cost of your web hosting package. But even if you decide to purchase a template, it is likely to be significantly less expensive than either hiring a website programmer to build your site from scratch, or trying to learn to do so yourself.

Templates that are in wide usage by other websites are also likely to be stable and less likely to break down. Any bugs or defects in the code are likely to be discovered and possibly remedied by other users. Some popular templates even have discussion board communities on which you can find tips on maximizing the effectiveness of the template.

I've managed (but not built from scratch) Joomla and Wordpress-based sites, and although there is a learning curve, I found it fairly easy to edit existing content (especially changing out existing text) and even adding new pages.

Cons of Using a Website Template
On the other hand, popular templates suffer from a significant disadvantage because when a template is popular, it means that there are likely a number of other websites that look quite similar to how yours would look. Many businesses know that their success is going to depend, at least in part, on their ability to stand out from their competitors. Sometimes trying to start with a template and then undertake significant modifications winds up breaking a template, so you're back to square one.

In addition, although there are many reputable and trustworthy sources for website templates, there are also some sources that could wind up significantly damaging your business. Hackers and computer criminals have been known to take templates and add short snippets of malicious computer code, then offer the template for free. The code is often very hard to see, and wouldn't be found by anyone unless they were digging deep trying to find it, and could compromise your website or let the hacker potentially take full control of it. WordPress and its templates (known as "themes") are common targets, due to the popularity of the WordPress framework. Avoid downloading any WordPress themes or other templates that you see offered for free but which are offered for a fee from the official source.

I had a resume writer contact me just yesterday and mention his site had been targeted by a hacker. (Just like Windows folks are more susceptible to viruses than Mac users, just by virtue of the large user base, the same is true for Wordpress sites. I'd especially recommend changing the default passwords, as this is the easiest way to prevent being hacked!)

Consider all the factors outlined above before deciding whether to use a template for your website.

Using Your Blog to Get Better Search Engine Ranking

Many resume writers have a blog (Julie Walraven, Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, Barbara Safani, to name a few) -- but not all resume writers understand how to optimize their blogs to get better rankings in search engines like Google and Bing.

Blogging is a free marketing tool that many don't take advantage of. Using it can help you to achieve higher search engine rankings for your website.

Think of it as the difference between formal and informal meetings with clients. On your website, you are providing essential information about your resume writing services -- what you can do for those who need your services. You give them what they need in a well-written format. They can find your "store" with links to purchase a resume package, for example, and opt-in pages for newsletters and mailing lists.

With a blog, you can let your hair down, so to speak. A blog allows you to post information for your readers and customers. Then, they can provide feedback to you in the form of comments on your posts. You can discover vital suggestions from customers that can enhance your business. (I get comments from resume writers seeking specific resources to support their business development on this blog, and on my job seeker's blog, I get questions from prospective clients.) Blogs have appeal to many and they are also followed by people who like what you have to say but who have not even visited your website -- yet.

So, use your blog to its fullest potential. Here are some ways to achieve better rankings for your resume business website.

* Write optimized posts -- More than likely, you are changing your content on your blog more often than you are on your website. While you are refreshing the website content, you don't need to do so as often to keep interest. However, readers of blogs are more voracious and need fresh news more regularly. By sprinkling the keywords you are trying to promote throughout your entries, spiders can crawl and rank your entries high on search result pages.

* Include links to your website -- Each post is ranked and given its own URL. This is a new opportunity to mention a link (outright or with anchor text) that leads back to your website. For those who only follow your blog, they can now find you in another capacity on your website. This increases your traffic. (Plus, it provides a link to your website, which gives it "authority" in the eyes of the search engines. Bonus!!)

* Use an RSS feed -- People can follow your blog easier and still use links in posts to find your website. Increasing the number of blog subscribers also increases website traffic.

* Submit your RSS feed to a directory -- This can also help to increase your search engine rankings of your blog, which is good news for your website. One example is FeedBurner, but there are many others you can also use. (I use Feedburner for this blog.)

Blogs are free and quick to set up. You can start with a site that has its own templates (I use Blogger!) and then further customize them for your needs. Without spending a cent, you have created another channel to divert traffic to your website though one-way links. Increase your search engine rankings faster with a blog.

Are You Spreading Yourself Too Thin?

As a resume writer -- especially a self-employed resume writer -- it's easy to spread yourself too thin by wearing all of the hats in the business. (Chief Phone Answerer, Resume Writer, Bookkeeper, Researcher, Marketer, Blogger ...)

My husband and I were talking about this over the weekend. I told him my fuse is a bit shorter than it normally is (okay, it's a LOT shorter than it normally is), and I thought I was getting burned out. I did some research on the subject, and yep -- the self-diagnosis is that I'm a bit crispy around the edges... Read on and see if you're getting brown around the edges too!

How Do You Know If You're Spreading Yourself Too Thin?

Sometimes the signs that you're doing too much are subtle. Other times there's absolutely no doubt in your mind that you have too much on your plate. Here are a few signs that you're spreading yourself too thin:

* Insomnia -- you go to bed and cannot get tomorrow's agenda off of your mind. (This is one of my biggest challenges. I've learned to keep a post-it note pad and pen by the bed. If I can write it down at least, I don't worry that I'll forget to do it in the morning.)

* Fear and doubt -- fears and doubts start sneaking in. You doubt your skills, direction, and purpose. Francesca Battistelli's song, "Free To Be Me" speaks to me: "Sometimes I believe that I can do anything; yet other times I think I've got nothing good to bring..."

* Moody -- you feel tired, irritable, and frustrated. You may find yourself snapping at your spouse, children, or family members and then -- of course -- feeling guilty about it. Sometimes a nap helps, but other times it doesn't.

* Exhausted -- everyone gets exhausted from time to time. However, the exhaustion that comes from overwhelm doesn't go away. I know I've gotten to this point when I *know* I need to start a project and I just can't even think about it. And then the guilt sets in ... because there's always a deadline ... and it just spirals around and around.

* Family members -- when your family members start acting out or complaining that they don't see enough of you, then you know you've tipped the scales of balance in the wrong direction. (I don't have this issue as much...as a resume writer, there are peaks and valleys, even in a single day. I might have a ton to do one day, and then a pretty quiet day the next day.)

* Negative thoughts -- when you start thinking, "I'm doing too much," "I'll never get this done", or "I'm not going to make it" then you're likely spreading yourself too thin.

What Can You Do about It?
Spreading yourself too thin isn't all doom and gloom. It is a very useful sign that things need to change for you. And sitting down and assessing what isn't working is a great way to improve and grow both professionally and personally. Truth be told, spreading yourself a bit thin can also be invigorating and fun -- it's certainly better than being bored. I find I like being busy a lot of the time. If I don't have a lot on my calendar on a particular day, that I waste a lot of time and don't get much accomplished. (What's the saying? "Want something done? Give it to a busy person." That's me, for sure.)

However, to be productive and to get where you want your business to be, it's important to regularly assess if your energy is being put into the most productive tasks. For example, if you spend two hours answering email every day, those aren't productive hours. You ideally want to spend your time on high priority tasks -- tasks that make you money. For most resume writers, that's talking to prospective clients and actually writing documents.

Tools to Overcome Being Overwhelmed
When you feel overwhelmed or that you're spreading yourself too thin, there are some very effective solutions.

#1 Create a schedule -- Schedule your day. Put your high priority tasks first. Schedule time with your family and friends. And schedule downtime for yourself. If you cannot take care of yourself, then you can't take care of everyone else.

(This brings me to another good point -- you're probably the caretaker of someone else in your life ... a spouse, child(ren), maybe a parent or other family member. I don't have any kids, but I do have two family members that I help take care of, and I find my "work" fuse is especially short when I'm stressed out about issues related to their care. You have to learn to separate the parts of your life from each other, and not let work-related stress spill over into your family life, and not let family stress spill into your work life.)

#2 Create a business plan -- If you don't have a business plan, create one. If you do have one, then use it. Set aside time each week, or month, and review where you are and where you want to be. Use your plan to help you stay on track. One of my big goals this year is to use a membership site to create passive income, so I'm not trapped in a "dollars for hours" system. My membership site (BeAResumeWriter.com) is to help careers industry professionals be more effective in their work -- but I am working on a training program for resume writers to create a membership site for their clients.

#3 Outsource -- You don't have to do it all yourself, and to be honest you probably shouldn't. Outsource those tasks that you dislike, that take you tons of valuable time or that don't make it to your top priority list. These tasks can include house cleaning, writing, social networking -- you decide what gets taken off of your "to do" list. It doesn't have to involve hiring a virtual assistant. My 12-year-old niece/goddaughter is earning money for a school trip to New York in the spring, and I hire her for a few hours each month to handle shredding and data entry. (And I'm thinking of hiring her to help with taking out the trash each week -- especially after last night's spider-on-my-back episode!!)

Finally, be confident in your decisions and feel free to use the word "No" whenever you need to. Don't be afraid to turn down opportunities, requests, and other things that take up time (time that you don't want to spend). This is your life. You're the boss of it and your business -- take back your time and regain control!